Conversations About Space
Spacecraft engineer Sian Cleaver talks to Peter Clift about space in the October u3a Radio Podcast.
Sian is currently working on the Orion programme at Airbus, part of the Artemis methods which will see humans return to the moon.In the conversation, Sian talks about her career journey, her experience of being a woman in a male dominated industry and how she sees space science developing.
When asked by Peter Clift why this work matters, Sian replies "It's this thirst for knowledge. We want to understand more about ourselves, we want to understand more about the solar system, where we've come from, what makes a planet, the history [and] the evolution of the solar system. There are so many big questions we want to answer from a science perspective. But for me as well, the space industry is all about developing, growing, learning."
Peter also asks about where Sian sees this work developing in the future. She says, "I think we're on the precipice of something really exciting. I think this whole new chapter that we're starting now with Luna Exploration... I think we'll make big advancements in technology, prove a lot of things to ourselves and it will really sort of open the doors to all sort of things that were science fiction before."
The u3a radio podcast, set up in 2020, showcases the amazing things happening across the movement. It’s created by a team of u3a members who all have radio experience and features interviews with members, interest group leaders, Trustees, national volunteers and Subject Advisers as well as external speakers, like Sian, who have given events to u3a members.
Listen to the October episode on the u3a YouTube channel with captions, and on Spotify, Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts .